The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm is a member, is a prestigious, invitation only group of 40 law firms in the U.S. and abroad who have come together to advance “best practices in the provision of legal services and positive outcomes for their immigration clients.”
As part of its mission, ABIL surveyed Immigration, Global Mobility, Human Resources, and Legal professionals at organizations both large and small across a variety of sectors around the globe in order to analyze current trends and “guide organizations in crafting immigration policies that are proactive, data driven, and aligned with their overarching business objectives.”
The data has been compiled and released in the ABIL Immigration Program Benchmarking Report 2025, and serves as insight and a tool for employers in formulating company immigration programs and policies based on others in their industries.
ABIL received 115 unique responses to the survey from companies with headquarters in Europe, Asia, North America and 24 U.S. states. The respondents’ industries include Information and Technology Services (27 percent), Education (21 percent), and Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals (12 percent) amongst many others. About 71 percent of respondents sponsored less than 500 foreign national employees, while eight percent sponsored 2,500 or more.
Other key findings from the survey include:
- More than 75 percent of respondents cover all of their employees’ I-140 costs during the green card process, while more than 65 percent pay the entire fee associated with the I-485.
- About 97 percent of respondents’ organizations sponsor foreign nationals for H-1B visas. 88% of those respondents said H-1B employees are later also eligible for green card sponsorship.
- 95 percent of respondents sponsor both L-1A and L-1B employees, while 92 percent of all respondents said their L-1 employees are also eligible for sponsorship in the H-1B cap lottery.
- More than 80 percent of respondents employ F-1 students for Optional Practical Training.
- 45 percent of respondents said employees are eligible to begin the green card process earlier than a year after their initial start date. 38 percent said employees are eligible for initiation between 12-17 months after their start date, while 17 percent said eligibility began 18 months or more following the foreign national’s first day of employment. 96 percent of respondents maintain the underlying nonimmigrant status while a foreign national’s I-485 is pending.
- Half of respondents do not cover any costs for the green card processing of employees’ dependent family members. 35 percent said they did not cover nonimmigrant visa costs.
- 69 percent of respondents said their organization did not have a liquidated damages clause (which allows the company to recoup permissible expenses under a state law when an employee leaves the organization within a certain time period). Of those with that clause, 66 percent required the employee to remain with the company for two years or less, while 34 percent required 24 months or more of employment.
- Just 53 percent of respondents said they were “highly confident” in their organization’s I-9 practices and recordkeeping.
Download the full 2025 Immigration Program Benchmarking Report here.